Challenges

• Need to maintain unhindered flow of gas and coolant through specially designed microstructures
• Degradation such as burr formation must be detected to preserve quality
• Dimensional accuracy of outer contours, recesses, and geometric elements must be ensured for stack alignment

Your benefits with ZEISS

• Chromatic white light measurement using the ZEISS DotScan sensor on a ZEISS CMM with rotating probe head
• In-depth 3D polished micrograph imaging with ZEISS Axio Imager 2 light microscope
• Ideal preparation for plate joining and stacking with optical contour measurement using ZEISS O-INSPECT
  

Challenges

• Polar plate coating is essential to corrosion protection and must be analyzed for cracks, bubbles, and other defects
• Thin steel layer on BPP presents risk of surface defects that can impair efficiency or cause total failure

Your benefits with ZEISS

• Optical inspection and layer thickness measurement with images from the ZEISS Axio Imager microscope
• Automated high-resolution imaging and evaluation with ZEISS O-INSPECT duo
• Nanometer-scale quantification of coated plate roughness and topography with ZEISS Smartproof 5 widefield confocal microscope
  

Challenges

• Lateral alignment of single plates and total height essential for proper operation
• Ensure unhindered gas and coolant flow, compliance with cell stacking tolerances, and fuel cell efficiency
• Bipolar plate is formed from two welded single half-plates, with the weld seam crucial to conductivity and mechanical stability

Your benefits with ZEISS

• Capture the 3D structure on both sides with the ZEISS DotScan sensor on a ZEISS CMM
• Non-destructive 3D scanning for evaluation of 3D geometry including lateral alignment and deviations in thickness
• Detailed and accurate high-resolution 3D data from ZEISS METROTOM 1500 CT or ZEISS Xradia Versa 620 X-ray microscope

Challenges

• Ultra-thin electrode layer coating must be analyzed for cracks, bubbles, particle contamination, and inhomogeneity
• Position and orientation of individual layers influences energy conversion efficiency in the fuel cell
• 2D geometry analysis must be performed on single layers to establish dimensions of edges and recesses
• Need entirely defect-free MEA to develop full performance

Your benefits with ZEISS

• Crack analysis using light microscope ZEISS Axio Imager and scanning electron microscopes such as ZEISS GeminiSEM
• Determine recess size and position plus coating margin in relation to reference edge
• Easy measurement of these characteristics with optical edge detection technology and integrated backlight in ZEISS O-INSPECT
• Image acquisition and defect detection with ZEISS O-INSPECT duo
  

Challenges

• Avoid contamination to ensure fuel cell function, quality, and service life
• Ensure consistent MEA layers and properties by testing sample sections
• 3D volume analysis for process development and defect understanding
• Fully inspect all MEAs for coating defects to avoid performance drop

Your benefits with ZEISS

• Particles identified with ZEISS Axio Zoom V.16 microscope, analyzed with electron microscopy, processed with ZEISS software
• Capture the size, shape, quantity, composition, origin, and metallic content of particles > 5 μm
• Analyze layer continuity and thickness with the ZEISS Axio Imager
• Non-destructive 3D volume acquisition with the ZEISS Xradia 620 Versa X-ray microscope and its two-stage magnification
  

Challenges

• Monitor stacked fuel cells (BPPs and MEAs) to ensure consistency of fuel cell stack layers and their properties
• Enhance process development and understanding of defects via 3D volume analysis

Your benefits with ZEISS

• Analyze small samples using X-ray technology to ensure layer continuity
• Analyze stack geometries and alignment with the non-contact confocal white light sensor ZEISS DotScan on a ZEISS CMM